Sep 28 2010
UK is all set to lead the world in offshore wind generation capability. The Thanet offshore wind farm situated in the English Channel away from Foreness Point will have 100 wind turbines each standing tall over 300 feet to produce enough clean power to supply 200,000 households.
The new wind generation facility will increase the offshore wind power generation of the UK to 1,314 MW nearly one third more than the total offshore power production of 1,100 MW from the rest of the world. With the inclusion of its Thanet offshore wind production facility, the total wind generated electric power of the country reaches almost 5 GW, enough to provide electric power to around 3 million homes.
The Thanet wind farm is built by Vattenfall, a Swedish wind energy company. The construction and commissioning of the wind farm will take the total number of offshore wind turbines in the UK to 436. The country already has 2,640 wind turbines installed at various locations on land. The country is awaiting sanction from the authorities for the construction of around 1,000 offshore wind turbines and 2,300 onshore wind turbines. Ultimately the government is planning to have 6,000 wind turbines in its inland locations and 4,000 turbines at sea.
Chris Huhne, the country’s Energy Secretary, said that UK is going ahead of the other countries in the world in the usage of a new technology that will reduce green house gas emissions and introduce more job opportunities.
Source: http://www.vattenfall.co.uk/